The Red String (ONE SHOT)
by Saailor Andromeda
Summary: Usagi is frantic! Something else went wrong when Queen Serenity used her Silver Crystal, and now Mamoru is unable to recall the past, and his love for the Moon Princess. What will she do? What can she do? (AU)


"Do you remember now, Serenity?"

The moon's surface was rugged beneath Usagi's palms and knees as she stayed there in shock, the words filling her head and not finding a way out. "Say something, Usagi-chan," Ami urged desperately.

The young girl's eyes lifted and she stared at the hologram of the woman who was once her mother, who was once the queen of the Moon Kingdom. Her lips quivered and her heart pounded in her chest. "I remember everything," she said in disbelief as tears filled her eyes. Her voice broke from the tension of trying to keep it stable.

Rei had her head cradled in her hands, Minako and Makoto exchanged puzzled glances. Ami looked between Usagi and Queen Serenity, whose faces betrayed their internal turmoil. "And what of Endymion? Was he reborn into this life? Where is he?"

Usagi looked up, hopeful. Her memories of him were full of nothing but love, and she thirsted for that same feeling again. She had an eerie hunch that she'd seen him somewhere before... somewhere, by chance. Queen Serenity had only sorrowful news. "Surely he was reborn into the world, but I do not believe his memories will ever be recovered. I am likely to blame for that. As I told you earlier, my heart was weak when I used the Silver Crystal. It is completely possible that he was reincarnated without his memories."

Usagi could feel her heart break inside her chest, "So, he will never know." She began to sob now. It wasn't the childish crying that she was known for; this was deeper and it was real.

"Not completely," Queen Serenity said sadly, her silver hair falling over her shoulders as her head dropped. The hologram was beginning to fade. "I never wanted anything more than for you to be happy, my dear princess. But I fear even that may not come to fruition."

Minako smiled at this, though it did not reach her eyes. "Usagi-chan will be fine. She'll find a way."

Mako showed her agreement with a supportive hand on Usagi's back, and some semblance of a laugh came from Rei's throat. They all looked for any sort of positivity to latch onto, for their best friend's sake. The girl herself was unraveling, unmitigated by their attempts. "I loved him," her throat seemed to crack as she spoke. "More than anything, I loved him, and he won't ever know. What am I supposed to do?"

Rei grabbed the collar of Usagi's sailor suit and pulled her face close, "Pull yourself together, Usagi-chan. We have a mission, and getting a boyfriend should be at the bottom of your priorities."

Usagi pulled Rei's hand off of her, causing Rei to fall backwards. "You saw it, Rei-chan. You saw our relationship in those memories, but you didn't feel it."

"But the fact remains." Ami muttered from behind them.

Everyone had almost forgotten that Queen Serenity was there, and she spoke low as she addressed her past daughter, "Serenity, you must fulfill your mission. And when you have succeeded, and you will," she smiled solemnly, "You may pursue your destiny. I just want you to be happy. I am losing my energy, so it's time for me to go and for you to return home. But do not forget my words and what I have shown you."

Usagi cut her knees on the moon rock as she crawled over to the hologram, "Goodbye. I won't fail you."

Queen Serenity smiled again, "I know you won't," and she was gone.

"Come on, girls. Let's get going," Minako said softly. They all rose to their feet, Makoto pulling Usagi with her – who still could not move on her own. They joined hands and shouted the command together.

"Sailor Teleport! Moon to Earth!" They landed with a gentle _thump_, still joined at the hands, on the ground at the Hikawa Shrine.

It was then that Usagi gained her metaphorical footing again. Releasing her transformation, she looked at each of the girls and out into the dark evening. "I'm going to go home." Rei moved to stop her when Usagi shot her a look, "I'm okay. I'll call you guys tomorrow."

They watched her leave and Ami shook her head somberly, "I'm concerned about her. That was a lot to take in for all of us, but especially for her."

"We have to go to D-Point soon, within the next few days, and she needs to be stable by then," Makoto considered aloud. "We've got to figure something out, you guys."

Rei rubbed her temples, "And here I was hoping to at least get in a few hours of sleep. Thanks a lot, Queen Serenity." She didn't mean it, but she _was _frustrated and exhausted.

A collective sigh was shared amongst them. It was going to be a long night.

Elsewhere, Usagi's arms were wrapped around her and she was crying, her house coming even more into view with her every shaking step. She climbed through a window that she'd made sure to keep a little open in order to get back in without much noise – which didn't work due to the fact that she tripped over her own foot and made a loud _thump!_ She shut the window and threw off her jacket and went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, just in case.

She heard footsteps behind her and quickly wiped her eyes. "Usagi-chan?" Luna's voice whispered from behind her.

Usagi breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face the cat, "Luna, it's only you. I'll grab my things and we can go upstairs and I'll tell you everything."

"Usagi-chan, where have you been?" Usagi didn't reply as she trudged her way upstairs. "Usagi-chan! Answer me!" Luna's voice was hushed, but fierce.

Usagi turned her head, tears all but pouring out of her eyes, and shook her head. "I'll tell you, Luna." She put all of the food she had grabbed from the fridge back into it, and replaced the bag of chips she had taken, and followed Luna upstairs to her room, immediately finding her bed and taking a seat on it.

"We went to the moon," Usagi pulled her knees into her chest and buried her face in them. Her voice was muffled, but Luna could hear her well enough. "I know everything about my past, Luna. About Endymion and our love and Queen Serenity... she said he won't ever recover his memories." She lifted her head and let out a soft sob, "I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't pinpoint where, and yet he will never recall the way he loved me..."

Luna's eyes widened at the mention of the Queen's name. Usagi's sentenced trailed off into silence and Luna rubbed against her leg, "I haven't completely recovered my memories, and I cannot for the life of me understand how you guys knew to go to the moon, but I do know that you are heartbroken."

"Why me, Luna?" Usagi's voice was small, broken. "Why is it always me?" Luna lifted her paw, intended to use it as a crutch for the girl, but was stopped. "I don't want to do this. I don't want to be the princess." That was news to Luna. "I have so much on my shoulders now. And not only that, the only man I can ever truly love won't ever know about it."

Luna smiled at her, "Usagi-chan, do you know why you were reborn?"

She sniffled, "To suffer?"

"No. Your mother wanted to give you another chance. That's what this life is. Another chance. If you stumble upon him one day, go for it. Don't hesitate. Queen Serenity would've wanted that for you. The red string of fate will come to your rescue," she promised.

Usagi shook her head, "It would be all one sided. It's only a _chance _that he'd fall in love with me, too, Luna. And even if he did, I would always love him more. That's not fair, for either of us." She crawled under her blankets, "I'm going to sleep," she was gone within minutes.

* * *

"Queen Beryl," Usagi wheezed out. "What do you want from the Earth? Who is that man?" Mamoru's presence confused her. She'd run into him a few times before, but why was he _here_? Her labored breathing was more a result of Beryl's attacks than anything. Memories of her friends' deaths played over and over in her mind, but she had to remain as strong as possible.

A deep laugh erupted from Beryl's throat, "This is my dear Endymion-sama. He was my lover in the past, until _you _stole him from me! I'll kill you, precious Moon Princess, and take him as my rightful king."

Endymion? Usagi realized that that's why he seemed so familiar, and simultaneously didn't understand how she had not recognized him before. She stood up, intending to fight back once again. For her friends, for Mamoru. "I won't forgive you," she hissed, tears welling in her eyes. "I won't forgive you!"

Beryl laughed again, "You pathetic child. I'll take care of you just like I did your friends." She lifted her staff and Usagi pulled out the Moon Stick, tears threatening to fall, her eyesight blurred.

She blinked them away, and when they rolled down her cheek, they began to shine brightly. Usagi's eyes widened and she held out her free hand, and a small crystal fell into it. She felt warm, complete. "The Silver Crystal..." she said to herself, in awe.

"The Illusionary Silver Crystal! It's mine!" Beryl lifted her staff again, having dropped it upon the crystal's appearance.

"No!" Usagi screamed. The crystal began to glow, and enveloped Usagi in light. When the light disappeared, she had transformed into Princess Serenity. She looked at herself in shock, and her body was filled with unbelievable energy.

Beryl smiled mischievously, "Now I get to really kill the Moon Princess! What luck."

Usagi looked at her, eyes full of ferocity, and lifted her Moon Stick, now complete with the Silver Crystal, "No!" She took a deep breath, "Moon Healing Escalation!"

She held onto her faith in the world, she felt her friend's presences, despite knowing that they had died only hours ago. She believed in the world where she met everyone, in her friends who were always with her, in the love she felt in her heart. Most importantly, she believed in herself, and in her power. _I'll save everyone. I'll bring my friends back! _Queen Beryl fought back using the power of Metallia, but it was all for not. Usagi was stronger, had better intentions, believed in love and beauty and herself, and it generated more power than Beryl could have ever dreamt of.

There was a flash of light, brighter than ever, and then everything went black.

* * *

Usagi woke with a start, an hour before her alarm went off to wake her for school. She remembered everything, and yet wondered if it was only a dream, her mind filling in the blanks to make it seem as though it had lasted months. She looked around her clean room, with bookshelves of manga and stuffed animals and plush bunnies on almost every surface, illuminated by the rising sun, and tried to make sense of everything. It was only to her relief when Luna hopped onto her bed, her head tilted to the side, "You're up early, Usagi-chan."

"Luna... So, it was all real?" She asked desperately. Luna nodded her head. "All of my friends..."

Luna nudged her arm with her nose, "You're here, aren't you? What makes you believe they won't be here, too?"

Usagi's eyes widened and she jumped out of bed. She had just enough time to get ready and meet the ever-punctual Ami at the school before class started. She ran downstairs after getting dressed and putting her hair in its infamous odangos and kissed her mom on the cheek, grabbed her lunch, and took off out the door.

She was turning a corner when she ran into Mamoru. She didn't really expect it, but she stood up and brushed herself off. "Sorry, Mamoru-san, I'm just in a hurry today!"

She went to walk around him when he grabbed her arm, "Usagi, wait!" He pulled her towards him, "Let's go out sometime, eh?"

Usagi leaned back a bit, "Mamoru-san, what are you talking about? Usually you go for 'idiot' or 'dumpling head'. What's with this pet name business all of the sudden?" She knew he was Endymion, and it still hurt, but she couldn't _show_ it.

"You don't remember us," he dropped his arms and his excitement faded just as quickly as it had come on.

"Remember? _Us_?" Usagi's eyes lit up, "You got your memories back!" She threw her arms around him, "Oh, Mamo-chan, I'm so glad. I was so afraid that you'd never know how much I loved you."

He hugged her back, his grip tight, "I don't know how I ever forgot."

Usagi pulled back and smiled up at him, "We'll catch up later, okay? I need to go see my friends."

The young man smiled as he watched her run off, lifting his hand to wave at her back. He could've sworn he saw a thin band of red string wrapped around his pinky. He shrugged it off. He was probably just seeing things, anyway.

* * *

**Author's Note**: I wrote this a lonnnnnng time ago (like, I forgot even what it was. I never give my one shots proper document names so I can remember what they're called… oops – for example, this one is "I f**king hate myself. doc") and I figured I'd edit it a little bit and post it. I could've made it hella longer, expanded on lots of things and such, but I didn't feel like it. (Don't hate me for that, though. I'm writing three one shots and two multichapter fics at the moment. It's a lot to handle for a full timer who really likes to sleep.) So ANYWAY, despite its very obvious faults, I hope you enjoyed it! c:


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